Coffee Barista Turned in Internet Celeb “Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker”: Police

Caleb Lawrence McGillvary accused of killing New Jersey lawyer.

Authorities say the internet celebrity known as "Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker" was turned in to Philadelphia police by a coffee barista who recognized him as being a man wanted for murder in New Jersey.

Union County Prosecutor Ted Romankow told NBC 4 New York on Friday that Caleb Lawrence McGillvary was buying coffee in a Philadelphia Starbucks Thursday evening when a worker recognized him and notified her supervisor.

The supervisor called police, and officers arrived and found McGillvary, who is accused of killing Joseph Galfy, a lawyer from Clark, N.J. 

"He wasn't lying low," said Romankow. "He was out there."

Galfy was found in his home on Monday, dead of blunt force trauma. Prosecutors say Galfy met McGillvary in Times Square Saturday night, and brought him back to his house to spend the night.

They say they believe the two men had a sexual encounter.

Authorities said McGillvary, who has appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," pondered on his Facebook page Tuesday the idea of waking up in a stranger's house with a groggy head and injuries, and the realization of being drugged and raped. "What would you do?" he wrote, according to officials.

McGillvary gained internet notoriety earlier this year when he was hitchhiking with a man who allegedly attempted to run over a utility worker in California.

According to the Fresno Bee, McGillvary pulled a hatchet out of his backpack and struck the driver in the head after the dispute, and others held the man until police arrived. Video from a profanity-laced interview McGillvary gave to a local TV station recounting his role went viral.

Authorities said he will be processed in Philadelphia and returned to New Jersey in the coming days.

--Pat Battle contributed to this report

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